Hidden Storage

[lazer128]

Since I plan to harvest tons of potatoes from my garden this year, I started looking for plans I saw several years ago for an underfloor potato storage bin. I haven't found it yet, but I did come across this. I want to do something similar to store my potatoes. It will need to be ventilated to the crawl space and have an insulated lid. Anybody know of any other sources for such a contraption?

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/hi_storage/article/0,2037,DIY_13934_5904177,00.html

[Brosia]

mostly I've seen root cellars, either indoors or built into the ground outdoors.

[iceman]

box cars

one of the ways I have is a metal box car. have couple of them underground at home. picked them up cheap, less then $500 and I did the coving myself

[Loshali]

I like that idea. I"d be sure to not put it where they will freeze, say in an unheated space. Or maybe that wouldnt be a problem? I dunno, definitely a good site for hiding lots of things.


You can also hide canned goods in a basement ceiling along the joists, and let the floor/ceiling insulation hide the cans. They'll stay cool and out of site until you need them, without disturbing the insulation very much.

[kenno]

My only input is that the above ground commercial storage bunkers around here use a perforated 20" pipe hooked to a slow turning fan and laid on the floor under the potatoes to aid ventilation and stop spud rot. The buildings are insulated as well. I would suggest that you check with your local seed spud growers to see how they store spuds in your area.

[RossA]

That DIY link is interesting, and it made me think about hiding things in between wall studs. There have to be some plans out there for building a hiding place in the walls.

[mountainman28713]

great idea!! would work great to hide under a rug or something in a B.O.L.

[Schneb]

Nothing like reviving an old thread with an update that has probably already made the rounds, but just in case someone else stumbles on this thread and wants more ideas for such storage:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/22-clever-hiding-places-to-stash-your-stuff

http://www.familyhandyman.com/DIY-Projects/Home-Organization/Basement-Storage/build-a-wall-niche

The wall niche plans are really about shelves but could be adapted to be hidden shelves. For instances, what if you built them, then hung a cupboard in front of them, that swung open when a catch inside the cupboard was released. Or could be a medicine chest or such.

Also there's this stairway secret cache kit:

http://smartproducttechnology.com/secret-stairs

Or the 7th item in that 'buzzfeed' list is another take on the stairway secret storage/trap door idea.

Lots of possibilities, once you start thinking in certain ways.

[Applejack]

I have seen some of these before. there are some really great ways to hide a lot of stuff. It has me thinking.

[Morgan101]

We have ample room for storage, so I have never really considered any hidden storage areas.

We have taken more of the idea of hiding in plain sight. Storing things in boxes that are marked "Tax Records" or "Baby Clothes" then putting a few of those things on top if anybody even opened the box, they wouldn't go through the whole box, or look in all of the boxes. We also have things stored in trash cans that we hope would not get a second look.

This post also raised a question for me, but I will start a new thread.